In our 20-year history, the Methodist DeBakey Cardiovascular Journal has featured reviews on every conceivable aspect of cardiovascular medicine—some new (COVID-19 and wearable devices), and many well-known (transplant and adult congenital heart disease). However, this is the first time we’ve featured a topic that is not only shifting the paradigm of cardiovascular care but that also affects every human being on earth. Titled “The Exposome and Cardiovascular Health,” this issue offers a revealing view of the many social and environmental factors that impact health across a person’s lifetime. As you explore these articles, you may come to share our perspective that a paradigm shift is necessary to improve both the equity and efficacy of cardiovascular care and to avoid perpetuating often overlooked cardiovascular health disparities.
Among the many insights shared, these articles highlight the importance of creating a comprehensive approach to facing and fighting environmental exposures that contribute to cardiovascular disease. They also describe new opportunities for addressing these challenges through technological innovation and tools such as Poly Social Risk Scores. By recognizing the intersectionality of the exposome and cardiovascular risk, we can begin to create and implement more comprehensive and nuanced approaches to address the social determinants of health.
Our expert authors have weighed in on this issue—describing the key components and critical impact of the exposome on cardiovascular care—and I greatly appreciate their contributions. Special thanks go to Sadeer Al-Kindi, MD, and Khurram Nasir, MD, our guest editors, for curating an impressive array of topics that, together, paint a holistic picture of the future of health care. I wholeheartedly support their call to action: To ensure that current medical advances translate into more personalized and more effective care for all patients across future generations, including those most vulnerable to health disparities.
In addition to the wealth of insights shared here, I remind you of the many topics you can find in the Journal archives. Also on our website, you will find learning resources in our Special Collections of videos, case reports, and interactive CME cases, and we invite you to submit case reports as well. If you haven’t already signed up to receive our e-newsletter, be sure to subscribe now.
Miguel A. Quiñones, MD, MACC, FASE
Editor-in-Chief
Methodist DeBakey Cardiovascular Journal
Winters Family Distinguished Centennial Chair
in Cardiovascular Education, Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center